


per aspera ad astra

by lovebeyondmeasure



Series: zvezda moya [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: 500 word fic, Cats, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov friendship (mentioned), F/F, Fluff, Moving In Together, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 16:43:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12085098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovebeyondmeasure/pseuds/lovebeyondmeasure
Summary: “Natasha?” she called. “I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow!” She hung her coat and kicked off her heels.Natasha returns home to Maria with a cat and a question. Maria isn't expecting either.





	per aspera ad astra

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GeekyNerdDemon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeekyNerdDemon/gifts).



Maria opened her apartment door to the smell of stroganoff. 

“Natasha?” she called. “I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow!” She hung her coat and kicked off her heels.

“Hello, _zvyozdochka_ ,” Natasha said, stirring the pan on the stove. “I finished my mission early and convinced Clint to fly me home.”

Maria felt warm at Natasha referring to this as “home.” She walked over to kiss Natasha’s proffered cheek. “Convinced? Oh, this smells delicious.”

“Convinced, bullied, these are the same word in Russian,” she said casually. “Also, you had sour cream in your fridge, and mushrooms. I know how to read a hint.”

Maria laughed, walking to her bedroom to strip out of her office clothes. She froze.

“Nat?” she called.

“Yes?”

“Why is there a cat on my bed?”

“Oh, you’re not allergic, are you? It wasn’t in your file!”

Maria snorted at that. “No, but I don’t own a cat, Natasha. Why is this one here.”

Wiping her hands on a towel, she came down the hallway.

“We found her on the mission,” Natasha said. “She was living in the empty apartment Clint was using for sightlines.”

“So you’re telling me you brought me a stray cat from Istanbul.”

The cat was staring at them, large green eyes in a sleek grey head. 

“She reminded me of you.” Natasha leaned her head against Maria’s shoulder. “I thought she might keep you company while I’m away. Or keep me company sometimes.”

Maria looked down at the redhead, who was looking at the cat. “Are you… asking to move in with me?”

Natasha didn’t look up. “My apartment is covered in dust. You keep fresh food in your fridge. This seemed…. natural.”

Maria wrapped an arm around Natasha’s shoulder. The cat was now ignoring them, carefully licking one white paw.

“You wanted to move in, so you brought me a stray foreign cat.”

Natasha stiffened slightly. “If you don’t want her, I can take her away. You don’t have to keep her.”

Maria had a feeling it wasn’t just about the cat anymore. “Natasha, if you want her, I will learn how to deal with a cat,” she said, turning to kiss the shorter woman’s temple. “As long as you deal with the litter boxes. Or pay someone to deal with the litter boxes.” She leaned their heads together. “As long as I don’t have to deal with the litter boxes.”

Natasha laughed, and her kiss tasted of relief. “Of course, _zvezda moya _. Whatever you want.”__

__Maria sniffed appreciatively. “The stroganoff smells great.”_ _

__“Oh!” Natasha left the room._ _

__“What’s her name?” Maria called, looking at the cat, who had settled into a pillow as though it was her due._ _

__“I thought you might like to name her,” Natasha called back. “Since I brought her home.”_ _

__Maria considered the cat carefully._ _

__“Estelle? Selena? Astrid?”_ _

__The cat looked up._ _

__“Astrid? Okay. Welcome.”_ _

__The cat blinked slowly. Maria laughed._ _

__“You know,” she said to the cat, “I really wasn’t expecting any of this today.”_ _

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Blackhill, stray cat
> 
> Listen: I'm a sucker for moving-in-together fic. Also, there's a Viking custom I've read about where a newly married bride is given a cat as a sign of good luck or something (I did, mm, no research, it's just what I remember reading), so it just felt right.
> 
> This series just gets fluffier as we go. I don't know if that's good or bad, but here it is! Did you catch that all of the name Maria tries out are related to stars? She wants to include Natasha's nickname for her in the cat's name, I died. "Astrid" is actually a Norse name meaning "divinely beautiful," but it sounds like "astra" which is the latin root for star so I'm calling it good. I have reference pictures of Astrid, [if you're interested.](http://lovebeyondmeasure.tumblr.com/post/165299322404/)
> 
> Title is a Latin phrase translated as "through struggle (or adversity) to the stars" or sometimes even "a rough road leads to the stars"
> 
> As always, I am open to prompts @ lovebeyondmeasure.tumblr.com


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